"This Is America" by Childish Gambino
"This Is America" is a song by American actor Donald Glover under his rapper persona Childish Gambino featuring uncredited background vocals from fellow rappers Young Thug (who also co-wrote the song under his real name Jeffery Lamar Williams), Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd, BlocBoy JB, Quavo of Migos and 21 Savage. It was released on May 5, 2018, as the former's debut non-album single, which coincided with the release of his Saturday Night Live episode. Lyrics Choir Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away [Bridge: Childish Gambino & Young Thug] We just wanna party Party just for you We just want the money Money just for you (Yeah) I know you wanna party Party just for free Girl, you got me dancin' (Girl, you got me dancin') Dance and shake the frame (Yeah) We just wanna party (Yeah) Party just for you (Yeah) We just want the money (Yeah) Money just for you (You) I know you wanna party (Yeah) Party just for free (Yeah) Girl, you got me dancin' (Girl, you got me dancin', yeah) Dance and shake the frame (Ooh) [*BANG!*] Childish Gambino This is America Don't catch you slippin' now Don't catch you slippin' now Look what I'm whippin' now This is America (Woo) Don't catch you slippin' now Don't catch you slippin' now Look what I'm whippin' now [Verse 1: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Blocboy JB & 21 Savage] This is America (Skrrt, skrrt, woo) Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy) Look how I'm livin' now Police be trippin' now (Woo) Yeah, this is America (Woo, ayy) Guns in my area (Word, my area) I got the strap (Ayy, ayy) I gotta carry 'em Yeah, yeah, I'ma go into this (Ugh) Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla (Woo) Yeah, yeah, I'ma go get the bag Yeah, yeah, or I'ma get the pad Yeah, yeah, I'm so cold like, yeah (Yeah) I'm so dope like, yeah (Woo) We gon' blow like, yeah (Straight up, uh) [Refrain: Choir & Childish Gambino] Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody You go tell somebody Grandma told me Get your money, Black man (Get your— Black man) Get your money, Black man (Get your—Black man) Get your money, Black man (Get your—Black man) Get your money, Black man (Get your—Black man) Black man pew pew!* [Chorus: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi & Quavo] This is America (Woo, ayy) Don't catch you slippin' now (Woo, woo, don't catch you slippin' now) Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy, woah) Look what I'm whippin' now (Slime!) This is America (Yeah, yeah) Don't catch you slippin' now (Woah, ayy) Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy, woo) Look what I'm whippin' now (Ayy) [Verse 2: Childish Gambino, Quavo, Young Thug, 21 Savage & BlocBoy JB] Look how I'm geekin' out (Hey) I'm so fitted (I'm so fitted, woo) I'm on Gucci (I'm on Gucci) I'm so pretty (Yeah, yeah, woo) I'm gon' get it (Ayy, I'm gon' get it) Watch me move (Blaow) This a celly (Ha) That's a tool (Yeah) On my Kodak (Woo) Black Ooh, know that (Yeah, know that, hold on) Get it (Woo, get it, get it) Ooh, work it (21) Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (Hunnid bands) Contraband, contraband, contraband (Contraband) I got the plug in Oaxaca (Woah) They gonna find you like "blocka" (Blaow) [Refrain: Choir, Childish Gambino, & Young Thug] Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody America, I just checked my following list, and You go tell somebody You mothafuckas owe me Grandma told me Get your money, Black man (Black man) Get your money, Black man (Black man) Get your money, Black man (Black man) Get your money, Black man (Black man) Black man (1, 2, 3 — get down) Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody You go tell somebody Grandma told me, "Get your money" Get your money, Black man (Black man) Get your money, Black man (Black man) Get your money, Black man (Black man) Get your money, Black man (Black man) Black man Young Thug You just a black man in this world You just a barcode, ayy You just a black man in this world Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy You just a big dawg, yeah I kenneled him in the backyard No, probably ain't life to a dog For a big dog Why It Rocks # The song is not afraid to explicitly makes mentions of all the things that are plaguing America right now, namely frequent mass shootings, poor gun controls, police brutality, the poor treatment of African-Americans and rampant drug abuses. # The song is very well-written thanks to Childish Gambino and Young Thug. # The song is well-produced thanks to Childish Gambino too and the beat is very good. # Childish Gambino and a lot of the uncredited rappers are on the beat with their rapping. # The music video is very well-directed thanks to Japanese-American director Hiro Murai and features a ton of sly references to past massacres and old racist imageries. # Young Thug's outro is very thought-provoking as he raps about how even wealthy African-Americans aren't immune to racism. # The song spawned numerous meme, parodies and covers, one of the most prolific ones being "This Is Nigeria" by Falz. Bad Qualities # Most of the uncredited rappers did not contribute much to the song other than their ad-libs. # It's really difficult to differentiate Young Thug's ad-libs from BlocBoy JB's ad-libs due to how similar they sound. # Nicole Arbour made a horrible feminist remix of the song. # People like Bart Baker have made terrible parodies of the song. Videos Category:2010s Category:Trap Category:Songs that were later sampled Category:Songs that sampled another song Category:Internet memes Category:Songs with awesome music videos Category:Parodies from Bart Baker Category:2018 Category:2010s Songs Category:2018 Songs Category:Gospel Category:Protest Songs